NSCAW, No. 12: Estimates of Supplemental Security Income Eligibility for Children in Out-of-home Placements, Research Brief, Findings from the NSCAW Study [Note: A revision to Table 4 was made 8/18/09]

Children who have been placed in foster care have been found to be at a high risk of having a medical, social or behavioral disability. This brief, one in a series of briefs addressing access to services for children in the child welfare system, examines Supplemental Security Income (SSI) eligibility among children living in out-of-home placements in the child welfare system, using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing. The analysis indicates that a large number of children living in foster care may be eligible for SSI. The rates of SSI eligibility we estimate vary depending on children’s age, race/ethnicity, sex and locality of placement.